Cwmderi Diary 2017: 23 November 2017

Ed dreads the ordeal to come

Ed stares moodily out of the window;

"Right then, it's showtime!"

Kelly comes downstairs and says, “Right then, it’s showtime!”

"Just calm down and tell the truth"

He urges her to calm down and simply to tell the truth. She says, “We’ve been waiting for this for ages – do you think she’ll mention Dewi?” Ed tells her that Sioned would not dare, as it would be in contempt of court,

"I don't trust her!"

but Kelly does not trust her.

"She's not getting herself out of this!"

“Neither do I, but she’s not getting herself out of this – not today!” he insists, and they leave the house.

"You are doing the right thing, you know"

Jim asks Eileen, “You do you know that you’re doing the right thing, don’t you? And for the right reasons. You’ll be brilliant on the stand.” She knows that it is not going to be enjoyable, but however cruel today seems,

"She will thank me in the end"

she knows that Sioned will thank her in the end.

Jim is exceedingly doubtful about that

Jim seems less confident about this.

Sioned and Gwyneth near the Crown Court . . .

Sioned and Gwyneth arrive

. . . and pause outside the entrance

at the court, and Gwyneth assures her that everything is going to be all right.

"If my own mother is against me . . .|

“If my own mother is against me, who’s going to be on my side?” Sioned demands.

"I'm on your side"

“I’m on your side,” Gwyneth replies, “Don’t lose the battle before you go in. Go in there as if you own the place – look straight into people’s eyes –

Gwyneth administers the obligatory pep talk

“Force them to question whether they have the guts to find you guilty! You have to fight, Sioned! Right, to battle, then.”

Ed and Kelly also arrive

Ed and Kelly are also approaching, and the two couples look at each other.

"It's nice to be alive, isn't it?"

Garry comes out of the Deri, and walks across towards the chippy; “Another fine day – it’s nice to be alive, isn’t it?” he asks Britt, “How long is this going to last?”

“Gar, how do expect me to be?” she complains,

"I don't know where I stand with Colin"

“I don’t know where I stand with Colin – I can’t marry him, but it’s not over either. We’re in limbo.” He points out that her being like this is not good for the business, and suggests she takes a day off to sort herself out.

"I'm sure there's someone you can talk to"

He is sure there is someone she can talk to, but she does not know who that may be.

The jury have studied the photographs . . .

In the court, the members of the jury

. . . of Ed's injuries . . .

are looking at photographs of Ed’s injuries;

. . . and he confirms they were caused by Sioned Charles

the prosecution counsel, Eluned Parry, asks Ed to confirm that those bruises were caused by Sioned Charles, and he does so.

"Why didn't you defend yourself?"

Then the defence counsel, Robin Hughes, stands, and points out that Ed is much taller than Sioned; “Why didn’t you defend yourself from these alleged attacks? You’ve just explained to the jury that you’re a lot bigger in size –

Sioned follows the proceedings intently

“how can a 5'2" woman inflict so much harm on a strong man like you?”

"She was controlling me"

Ed answers, “Because she was controlling me – I was a toy, in a way. You’ve seen evidence of the physical abuse,” and at this point the defence counsel adds the word ‘alleged’.

"The abuse in my head stated a lot earlier"

“But the abuse up here, in my head, started a lot earlier,” Ed continues, “By the time she started hitting me, I couldn’t fight back. All I lived for was to try and please Sioned –

"Then she punished me"

“but no matter how hard I tried, it was never good enough, and then she punished me.”

“And your way of dealing with this was to fake your own death?” is the next question, but Ed maintains that he did not fake it.

"I escaped in panic"

He escaped in panic because it was the only answer he could see.

“Sioned had changed the person I was, step by step, day by day, in cold blood.

"ERspecially a person they say they love"

“I think that’s one of the cruellest things someone can do to another person – especially a person they say they love.”

Can that be a remorseful look on Sioned's face?

Sioned seems to perhaps show a trace of shame.

"Is it Chester?"

Britt pays a visit to Y Felin, where it is obvious to Siôn that she is upset, and he suspects that it involves Chester.

"I'll make a cup of tea"

He goes to make a cup of tea, while she sobs piteously.

Back in the court room, Kelly is now giving evidence; “He was terrified of her!” When asked why this was,

"Because she's a horrible cow!"

she replies, “Because she’s a horrible cow!” which brings an objection, which the Judge sustains.

"Miss Evans, this is a court of law!"

He then reminds Kelly that this is a court of law, not a school yard, and she apologises.

"She was manipulative and humiliated him"

Then she resumes her answer; “She was manipulative, playing good cop, bad cop, she humiliated him in front of people, and we know what she did to him behind closed doors, but why? Because he loved her, and she threw it back in his face –

"No-one deserves her!"

“no-one deserves that! No-one deserves her!”

"What sort of friend is Mr Charles?"

Then the defence counsel asks if she is a friend of Mr Charles; “What sort of friend would you describe Ed Charles as?”

"Loyal, sensible, a good bloke"

Kelly is nervous, but describes him as, “Loyal, sensible, at least when his head is not messed up over her – he is a good bloke.” She is asked whether she believes Sioned Charles changed him as a person,

"Someone had to rescue him"

and she replies, “He was a shell of himself – someone had to rescue him, or she would have destroyed him. I happened to be there.”

"I think you know why, Miss Evans"

“I think you know why,” states the defence counsel, and Ed looks uncomfortable, “It’s obvious from the evidence you've just presented that you and Ed Charles are far more than friends.”

"Nothing has ever happened between us"

She describes this as a pack of lies, and that they are mates. Nothing has ever happened between them.

“But you wish something had,” he continues, and she describes this as an irrelevance.

"Do you expect us to believe that?"

“Come on, Miss Evans, do you expect us to believe that? You’re only kidding yourself – he is a friend you’re in love with – and may I remind you at this point that you have sworn an oath to tell the truth before the jury.”

"All right . . . yes, I think I'm in love with Ed"

“All right,” she says, and after a lengthy pause, adds, “Yes, I think I’m in love with Ed.”

Ed thinks Kelly's credibility has gone down the drain

There is the hint of a smile on Sioned’s face, but Ed looks genuinely surprised, and believes that this has ruined the case.

"I feel like a failure, as usual"

At Y Felin, Britt explains, “It’s not just the mistake with the money, but everything I did afterwards. I just feel like a failure, Siôn, as usual.”

"That's how I felt with you"

He says that people usually feel like failures when things are difficult, and that is how he felt with her.

“But usually no one is to blame for the situation – it is just a matter of partners not being compatible, like you and me,” he tells her,

"Do you think that you and Colin are not compatible?"

“Have you ever felt that you and Colin were not compatible?”

She admits thinking that it would not work,

"It was great – until this!"

“But it did – it worked well. It was great – until this! No, he deserves better than me.”

"I was right all along!"

With her legal team, Sioned is confident that she was right all along, and they used the right strategy.

"Kelly tried to steal the wrong woman's husband!"

“Kelly tried to steal the wrong woman’s husband!” she boasts, “And now she’s ruined his case!”

"There's a long way to go yet"

She is told to calm down, as there is a long way to go, and reminded that her mother is giving evidence this afternoon.

"Remember when we went to the National Library?"

Britt recalls when they took the children to the National Library, and he concedes that it was not his best idea.

"And to Brittany . . ."

Then he remembers the World War II landing site in Brittany, when apparently, Britt believed that U-boat was a reference to their shape,

". . . where you thought U-boats went round in circles!"

and thought they could only go round in circles. They are both by now laughing uproariously,

"I'd better get going, Siôn"

but Britt decides it is time she left.

The questioning soon wipes the smile from Eileen's face

Back in court, Eileen is asked, “What sort of mother testifies against her own daughter?” and, following an objection,

"The defence must stick to the facts!"

the Judge orders that the defence should stick to the facts. “You say your daughter was violent towards Mr Charles.” Eileen confirms that Sioned admitted that she abused Ed,

"We only have your word for that, Mrs Probert"

but the barrister points out they only have her word for that, and she feels strongly enough to testify in court of law against her daughter.

“To go to such extremes, you must have strong evidence that these things happened,” and

"You've seen the photographs"

Eileen replies that they have seen the photographs. “But what connects the images to Sioned Charles?” Eileen explains that Kelly took the photos.

They fear that this is not going well

“So the source of your strong evidence is Kelly Evans’ word, someone who has admitted to having a vendetta against Sioned Charles and a desire to steal her husband. Is that what you’re saying?”

Eileen is being tied up in knots

Eileen is now confused, and protests, “It was obvious Ed was telling the truth,” so she is told she is now going on Ed Charles’ word. The counsel asks where is her evidence,

"Have you ever seen Ed Charles attack Sioned Charles?"

and has she ever seen Sioned Charles attack Ed Charles. She has to admit that she has not.

The jury pay careful attention

“On the other hand, have you ever seen Ed Charles being violent towards your daughter?”

"He pushed her to the floor once"

She confirms that he pushed her to the floor once, and she saw this with her own eyes.

Things appear to be going Sioned's way

Sioned is becoming more confident by the minute.

"And what advice did Confucius give you?"

Garry comes to the chip shop flat, and asks Britt if something has happened; she tells him she went to see Siôn, hoping he could help. “And what advice did Confucius give you?” Garry asks,

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

“Whatever this is, I’m not going to like it, am I?”

"It felt so nice and familiar in Y Felin"

She emphasises that nothing happened, but being in Y Felin felt so familiar, so nice and normal. “There’s nothing normal about Siôn White!” exclaims Garry,

"Not talking about money and getting married"

but she says it was nice not talking about money and getting married. She insists that she did not want anything to happen, but just had a chat about the old days.

Garry reminds her, “The old days are gone – because you and Siôn didn’t work! You don’t realise how lucky you are that Colin is here – sort yourself out,